Here's a review of the first issue of The Lorelei Signal, a quarterly e-zine devoted to strong female characters in fantasy fiction.
The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly fantasy web magazine edited by Carol Hightshoe and devoted to strong female characters, printing three or four such stories an issue. The front page announces:
I just don't want to see female characters who are weak, having to be constantly rescued, etc. Females in the story should have the same strength of character as their male counterparts and not be there as window dressing. This has been changing over the years in fantasy writing - the idea of the female character being nothing more than a sidekick, the princess to be rescued, etc has faded significantly. But, she still shows up occasionally.
The stories in this premiere issue are a good, interesting grouping. The issue begins with "Blood and Ashes" by Michelle Acker, illustrated by Holly Eddy. Acker's enjoyable and well-paced story revolves around a woman disguised as a male soldier and the fellow soldier she thinks does not realize her secret.
"The Last Vhalgenn" by Kayelle Allen starts with excruciating and soap operatic detail; once it's into the part with the queen and the vhalgenn, though it's a lot more interesting. Vhalgenn, we learn early on, are royal concubines after a fashion:
It was the custom in Qarth to give a child of the opposite sex to the sovereign's firstborn to be playmate, companion and bed warmer. To prevent the sowing of seed in the wrong field, the Vhalgenn was made incapable of bearing or fathering a babe early on. We Vhalgenns weren't meant to fall in love with the ones we served, though our history bursts with tales of...
The story drags on at times and might benefit from being about half as long, but it's worth the read, and also nicely illustrated with an elegant line drawing by Amy Harlib.
"Urania", a sparse poem by Bobbi Sinha-Morey, has a lovely illustration by Holly Eddy.
"The Bag Lady", by Veronica Searles, seemed unremarkable; the artwork by Amy Harlib, elevated it above the ordinary.
"Act of War", by Lee Martindale, is a type of story that I'm a sucker for, and I thank Ms. Martindale for delivering such a nice version of it.
The magazine is trying an experiment, including donation buttons for the writers as well as to donate to the magazine overall. Donation buttons for artists are included as well - nice since often the artwork is easily as enjoyable as the story.
If I have any qualms about the magazine, it's about the cluttered and busy layout. In Blood and Ashes, for example, there are two flavors of purple on the page, and the unfortunate decision was made to make the blood red and the ashes grey on the "Blood and Ashes" page.
